"Why Christianity Must Adapt -- Or Perish"

by leavingwt 53 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  Heaven

  What The Oracle said!

  I would add that my life experience has shown Christianity to be short-sighted and contradictory when they start telling people that only they have the Truth and that if you don't do certain specific things (ie, accept Christ, get baptized, etc) that you are not entitled to eternal life. This smacks in the face of logic as well as love. There will be people born, live their entire lives, and die on this Earth without ever having heard about Christ or ever having read the Holy Bible. Christians are trying to coerce people into certain actions and also trying to tell others that they are not entitled to eternal life because of the family and belief system they were born into. This doesn't jive with love and understanding and benevolence. If God and Christ want to punish people for this, I want nothing to do with them.

  As I've asked before, do you think these people have heard the word of the Lord, have accepted Jesus Christ as their saviour, rejected their former life, and are planning on getting baptized? I seriously doubt it.
• 

  awildflower

  Fantastic article Leaving.

  PSac, I express this everytime "Christianity" comes up: As long as you carry the title "Christian" then your already missing the point of Jesus words and life! Christians can be "true Christians" because Christianity is man made. But "Christians" are NOT true followers of Christ. Believe me when you and others really get the point of Jesus you'll drop the title like a hot potatoe!
• 

  PSacramento

  PSac

  -- Good luck

  LOL ! I am not holding my breath bro !

  Of course Christians suck, HELLO !!

  Christianity attracts losers and assholes, just like me !

  A church is a hospital for sinners, not a museum of saints.

  Christians are horrible, the swear, they fuck up, they make a mess of things, they hate, the steal they cheat, in other words, they are just like everyone else.

  God knows this, and since there is NO WAY for us to get "up there" with God, God came "down here with us", in the form of his Son, Jesus.

  There is NOTHING we can do to deserve God's love and the history of christianity shows this, thatis why Grace is a crucial as it is.

  God loves us inspite of what we are, not because of it.

  Being a Christian has become a bad word, much like it was after Jesus died.

  Jesus choose assholes to be his disciples, not the "creme de la creme" of society, assholes and cowards and, well, typical dicks like US.

  That is the christianity of Jesus, love for those that don't deserve it.

  awildflower,

  I appreciate your comment, but me dear, I believe that I DO get the point of Jesus, but if you feel that I don't I would love for you to explain it to me.
• 

  superpunk

  McLaren is advocating a different, perhaps upgraded form of Christianity that takes a more objective view of history and employs a better interpretation of the Bible.

  2,000 years later, we finally REALLY understand what Jesus was saying. Praise Jah, you people!
• 

  PSacramento

  I like the Gospel of Thomas as it seems to provide a window into the original Jesus sayings.

  Where a woman must became a man before they enter the kingdom of Heaven?

  That Gospel?
• 

  mindmelda

  I think I know what Wildflower is saying. Christ didn't create Christianity, the word or the concept. The word didn't even come into usage until after he died. People who believed a variety of things, even back in the first century, finally started to name themselves Christians.

  There's nothing wrong with the word, but I sometimes do feel squeamish identifying myself with people who do some of the things Christians are known to do, I mean...who wouldn't? We've all read the history of Christianity. In it's entirety, it's no differently represented than any other major faith, it's got as many heroes as scumbags but is as usual with humans, most were a bit of both.

  I also don't feel you have to be a saint to be a Christian...and that may be the whole point of what Christ was teaching. It was never a religion of saints, because there aren't any, at least, not in this world or existence. If you didn't get that out of what Christ taught, you weren't paying attention too well. I think he was quite realistic about what people are and what they need.

  Christian is such a general term anymore that there are about 10 different definitions of it in the dictionary for one thing, so it's not even a very definitive word to use, in my opinion. It doesn't tell me much about you to merely say you are "Christian"...it could mean anything from the fact that you belong to one of the major religious denominations to that fact that you think you're merely trying to be a decent person and may never set foot in a church.
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  PSacramento

  The thing is, a Christian is, simply, someone that believes that Jesus was the Christ, the son of god, that he died and was ressurected and is with God.

  It really is just that simple, the rest is doctrine, and most christians don't knwo enough about it for it to make that much of a difference.

  The issue is with born again christians, so lest be honest about that.

  No one has probelms with moderate christians or with lackadasical christians, every one is ok with "live and let live" christians.

  It's the born again bible thumbers and hypocrits that drive everyone crazy, right?
• 

  BurnTheShips

  PSac, respectfully, you confuse me sometimes. Is there any segment of Christianity you don't dislike, other than your own personal brand?

  BTS
• 

  superpunk

  I think I know what Wildflower is saying. Christ didn't create Christianity, the word or the concept. The word didn't even come into usage until after he died. People who believed a variety of things, even back in the first century, finally started to name themselves Christians.

  Then again, without "Christians", would Christ be Christ? Or would anyone know about it?

  If a savior martyrs himself and noone writes about it and tells others, does it have any value?

  Gods have a symbiotic relationship with their adherents. One can't exist without the other propping the other up, in a circular support system that can't be verified by any other source. Which came first, the Christian or the Christ? ;)
• 

  THE GLADIATOR

  The thing is, a Christian is, simply, someone that believes that Jesus was the Christ, the son of god, that he died and was resurrected and is with God. It really is just that simple, the rest is doctrine...

  I could be wrong but I though that was the main doctrine, or body of teaching, of Christianity. To believe this one has to be indoctrinated. Paul has added many other doctrines and so has the RC church.